Whatever floats your boat

My brother Sean has just gone off and bought himself a kayak. How this came about is an amusing story in itself. Out of the blue came an unexpected windfall from his work. It was not a fortune, by any means, but it was enough to allow him to go and buy himself a pretty respectable kayak.

So he turns up at the shop and then sees an even better one – much better! And for just a little bit more. He had been given clearance by his long- suffering wife to use the unexpected bonus to make a one-off purchase but, of course, she was not around when he decided to upgrade to an all-singing, all-dancing kayak with the necessary accessories.

I always enjoy hearing about fellas getting in trouble with their wives. It strikes a cord with me. Christ knows, I have lived in the doghouse myself for years now and I can imagine the kind of dialogue that unfolded behind closed doors between our intrepid adventurer and his missis. I imagine it was like when Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk fame told his Mum that he had traded the family cow for a few bean seeds. She might well have attempted to murder him but, in fairness, his wife Katie was very understanding and, for the benefit of my own wife who is reader of this blog, I am happy to say that she SHOWED A WILLINGNESS TO ALLOW HER HUSBAND TO BLOW SOME OF THE FAMILY BUDGET ON KIT WHICH IS RELATED TO FLY FISHING.

I have to say that buying the kayak was a good move. There is NEVER a good time to blow a lot of hard-earned dosh on our mutual obsession, so you may as well just get on with it and do it straight away. There is a good reason not to delay things. I spoke to Sean on Christmas day and he pointed out that we only have about 15 “good” years left in us before we become so decrepit that we have to sit around drinking soup through a straw and watching Countdown. He´s right of course.

Sean used to have a boat that he built lovingly himself and from which he would venture out fly fishing for pike or take the kids out rowing and fooling around. And then some son of a bitch went and “borrowed” it. As I understand it he discovered it later trashed and beyond repair.

I can´t tell you very much about the new kayak. He did send on the specifications but there are two points worth pointing out: the first is that it floats, and the second is that it is yellow. Buoyancy is a very desirable feature in any boat and so I am pleased that the opted for this feature. He is a discerning customer so I would have expected no less of him. As for the yellow, that may well be a good call too. He will be going out to sea in this thing and so the vivid colour makes sense. I reckon you might be able to see Sean on his kayak from outer space.

So hats off to Sean and his bright new kayak. I hope that he has many fine adventures in it. I must admit I am very tempted to make a similar purchase myself in the future.

When I work up the courage I might raise it with my wife.

Sean´s shiny new kayak

Sean went and caught a pike on a copper spoon. He offered them some flies too but they were´t up for it on this occasion.

Mojo – this is the boat Sean built himself a few years back that was stolen and later damaged.

Here Sean and I are fishing from a pretty conventional boat. Mark McCann took this photo. We were pretty frozen at the time and dreaming of a pint after a few hours out on Lough Mask.